Anchor global brand grows stronger and better

Anchor, the best known dairy brand for New Zealand consumers, also reigns supreme around the world.

Anchor accounts for a $1.2 billion in global revenue for the co-operative. It’s on shelves in over 80 countries, represented by over 600 products playing across six dairy categories.

It’s the number one butter in China, the most loved dairy brand in Sri Lanka, a market leader in Malaysia and the Middle East and has a massive global food service business to its name.

In NZ, two out of three families in New Zealand have bought Anchor and 108 Anchor products have been sold.

About 80% of the country’s branded fresh milk in supermarket chillers bears the brand’s iconic stamp and is NZ’s number one most trusted brand across milk, butter, and cheese.

Last month new Anchor innovations hit the shelves in Malaysia and Philippines.

Fonterra General Manager for Global Anchor Brand Brent Whelan told Dairy News that the new products are a bold play in an emerging functional wellness segment.

“Consumers are seeking healthier, natural, and more nutritional alternatives to base milk powder, and more than ever, they’ve started to care where that nutrition comes from,” says Whelan.

In Malaysia and Philippines, Anchor has launched Protein+, a delicious high-protein milk drink, and Milk & Grain, a filling milk drink with added fibre and multigrain that supports overall digestive wellness.

Whelan says it’s a clever play on “premiumisation”, blending nature and nutrition science to deliver dairy protein in an affordable way.

At the same time, Fonterra farmers get more value for every drop of their NZ milk, he adds.

Whelan says consumers in South East Asia are seeking healthier, natural, and more nutritional alternatives to base milk powder.

“And more than ever, they’ve started to care where that nutrition comes from.

“Our new innovations combine the best of New Zealand dairy and Fonterra science to deliver functional nutrition on the go.”

Tapping Into Demand

In Thailand, Fonterra has launched two new Anchor products – Anchor Actif-Fiber and Anchor Beaute.

It was developed in an exclusive innovation partnership with 7-Eleven, have just hit 14,000 stores across Thailand.

Brent Whelan says both beverages combine the best of New Zealand dairy and Fonterra science to deliver functional nutrition on the go, tapping into Thai consumers desire for wellbeing and convenience with a great-tasting ready-to-drink format targeting gut health and beauty.

“Actif-Fiber is fortified with exactly that – fibre – to aid digestion and immunity, while Beaute is loaded with zinc and collagen that add a little something for an inside-out kind of glow.”

Whelan says for a global brand like Anchor, it’s about trying new things, leveraging deep market intimacy, and innovating for relevance to consumers in all corners of the world.

“It’s not a one size fits all approach and taking the effort to really understand the consumer is paying off for Anchor.

“It’s about delivering scale, efficiency and impact globally while enabling our brands and markets to respond more readily - and swiftly - to local consumer needs and preferences.

“It’s exactly what Anchor has sought to nail in South East Asia with its latest innovations.”